According to this NYT article, a bill passed by the US House of Representatives was knowingly written to single out, and punish BP. If the Senate also passes the bill, BP could be barred from any future offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP, to retaliate, is claiming to face severe financial problems because of this ban. According to BP officials, issues arising from this bill may render the company unable to stay financially solvent, and thus unable to compensate the spill victims.
I call BS on both parties. Instead of passing bills written like mystery novels, meant simply to tick off the most recent offender, shouldn't Congress be working with the Minerals Management folks to enforce stricter safety guidelines in the future? After all, it was a faulty piece of equipment, coupled with poor decisions to rush drilling, that led to the disaster last spring. These types of safety infractions are probably commonplace on offshore rigs, given the lax enforcement of the rules since the beginning of the Bush years.* Congress's attention should be focused one ensuring that there isn't another Deepwater Horizon, not enacting laws meant to poke at BP while it's down.
By the same token, I think BP is lying when it says that it would be rendered unable to pay it's fines, and put funds into the promised escrow account, without revenue from the gulf. According the NYT article, 11% of BP's total oil production originates in the gulf. With quarterly profits topping $6 billion**, I can't imagine that cutting just over 10% of production would bankrupt the company, or render it unable to pay what is due. I hope that this isn't the beginning of BP going back on its promises, citing extenuating circumstances such as "laws" and "rules."
This one is defiantly a story to keep an eye on.
* As I write this, authorities are investigating another explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
**Source: Higher oil prices push up BP's quarterly profit
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